Instant Pot Cranberry Chicken
Instant pot cranberry chicken is a flavorful dish, perfect for a family dinner. Whether you are looking for quick weeknight dinners or tasty Sunday lunch, this cranberry recipe will become your family’s favorite!
Servings: 4
Calories: 442
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 Small Onion , minced
- 2 ounces Pancetta , see note 1
- 4 Chicken Thighs , skinless, bone-in (1.7 pounds/790 grams in weight), see note 2
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1.5 teaspoon Salt
- black pepper to Taste
- ⅔ cup Vegetable Broth , see note 3
- ½ cup Cranberry Sauce
- 1 cup Frozen Cranberries , see note 4
- 3 Orange Slices , optional, see note 5
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour , see note 6
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Instructions
- Turn on instant pot. Press SAUTE and pour olive oil in. Meanwhile, peel and cut the onion. Add it to the pot and saute until translucent (about 2 minutes).
- Add bacon/pancetta pieces and fry for 2 minutes.
- Meanwhile: season the thighs with paprika, salt and black pepper. Make a space in the pot by moving the onion and bacon to the edges. Add the chicken in and cook for 2 minutes per side.
- Turn off SAUTE function (press CANCEL) and deglaze the pot with broth (no need to take out the chicken. Just move it to a side to make some space for deglazing).
- Stir in cranberry sauce until well combined. Add half of the cranberries (see note 4) and 2-3 orange slices (see note 5) Close the lid and lock it into its position. Turn the steam release valve to SEALING and adjust timer to 6 minutes.
- When the time is up, wait 4-5 minutes before releasing the pressure manually. When the pin drops, remove the lid.
- Turn on SAUTE. Add cranberries (if you haven’t added all of them before cooking) and thicken the sauce with flour (mix 2 tablespoons of flour with about about 4 tablespoons of water or more if needed). Let it cook for 1-2 minutes before turning off the pot.
- Serve with rice or anything you like!
Video
Notes
- Either pancetta or bacon of your choice can be used. You can use up to 3 ounces, if you like bacon-rich sauce.
- Chicken thighs, bone-in are the best option for this recipe. You can also use skinless, boneless thighs. If you do, omit the browning and pressure cook them for 5 minutes only.
- Instead of vegetable broth you can use chicken stock or broth. If you use low-sodium stock, you might need to add more salt. Do this at the very end of cooking and after you taste the sauce.
- Cranberries can be added before or after pressure cooking or half before and half after pressure cooking like I did. The difference will be in their taste so if you don’t like them tart, add them before pressure cooking.
- Some orange peels taste bitter than others. This will affect the taste of your sauce so if you don’t like a hint of bitterness, please, omit the orange slices completely. Also, 3 slices are plenty here so don’t add more.
- I used flour (All-Purpose = US, Plain = UK) to thicken the sauce, but you can use cornstarch instead. You might need more than 2 tablespoons though.
- This recipe was developed for a 6-quart/5.7-liter instant pot.
- The overall cooking includes the 6-minute pressure cooking + sautéing of onion, bacon, chicken and final thickening. It does not include time that the pot needs to come to pressure and time needed to release its pressure. Count with extra 12 minutes (the total time needed to make this dinner is about 30 minutes from start to finish, including passive time).
Nutrition Facts
Instant Pot Cranberry Chicken
Amount per Serving
Calories
442
% Daily Value*
Fat
17
g
26
%
Saturated Fat
4
g
25
%
Cholesterol
106
mg
35
%
Sodium
1227
mg
53
%
Potassium
359
mg
10
%
Carbohydrates
50
g
17
%
Fiber
1
g
4
%
Sugar
40
g
44
%
Protein
22
g
44
%
Vitamin A
288
IU
6
%
Vitamin C
34
mg
41
%
Calcium
24
mg
2
%
Iron
1
mg
6
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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